Dune Diversions
by Shadow-Phoenix-Rider
Summary: Captain Zavvi and Corso Riggs return to Tatooine to finish their mission, but things take an unexpected turn...


Captain Zavvi gave a slight sigh as she reached the peak of the sand dune she was climbing, and was greeted by a stunning view of waves of dunes like a frozen earth sea, with small pockets of rocks and settlements nestled in between. Despite Tatooine's insistence on trying to kill you, what with its twin suns, unbearable heat, vicious sandstorms, aggressive carnivorous animals and too many people who enjoyed murder, the planet could look spectacular when it wanted to. That said, she eyed the small mercenary outpost with relief; it wasn't far now, and they'd reach it in good time.

She thought back to what had happened over the past two days they'd spent here, trying to locate the sensor computer for Risha's collection, which had lead them a place known as the Lightspring. She and her companion Corso Riggs had wisely decided to make the journey there early in the morning, when the planet was still dark and unfairly cold. That way they were inside the cave when the suns were at their zenith; their mistake of not doing that before had led to an argument Zavvi would never forget, emblazoned forever on her right thigh.

She sighed again; sadly this time. For all the things she'd heard about Diago, he'd been nothing she'd expected in person. The Twi'lek wasn't one for executing people, but somehow she felt by killing Diago, she'd put him out of his mad misery. But maybe that Sith had something to do with it. She couldn't've believed it! A Sith, here on Tatooine! Corso had been rather put out when Zavvi had 'accepted' the terms of her deal, but she'd asked him if he wanted to argue with someone with a lightsaber, to which he agreed was a rather foolish thing to do, and they'd have to like it for now. Zavvi had thanked her stars that Nariel had been around though; she and Corso couldn't fight a Sith alone, so when the choice was between her and the Jedi, they happily joined the Jedi's side, because they'd at least stand a chance.

A chill gripped her spine as the final encounter replayed in her mind. Everyone was facing off; Corso was snickering at Zavvi badmouthing...what was the Sith's name...Vaverone Zare, that was it! Nariel was being one of those new Jedi who were far too strict with themselves (the smuggler had forgotten most Jedi weren't like her sister, so Nariel's preachy attitude had been making her exasperated) whilst Diago...He was just being bonkers and trying to come on to Risha. As much as it was funny to see the mechanic squirm, no one really deserved Diago after them, so Zavvi played coy about knowing who and where she was.

And then Vaverone decided to take things into her own hands, and attempted to Force Persuade Zavvi. The smuggler had laughed in her face; the sister of a Jedi had benefits, though Zavvi couldn't've been sure it was that, or a strong mind, or if she was actually Force sensitive herself (if just a little bit) that had helped block it.  
But what happened next had turned her stomach into a knot.

Failing with the Captain, she tried it with Corso. Zavvi had expected a similar result to hers, but remembered the horror as suddenly his gaze become blank, pupils dilating for little reason, and parroting the words; _I want to kill you, Captain._ If that hadn't been terrifying enough, the words had sunk in and the glassy eyes had become dark and savage and she watched him in stunned silence raise his rifle towards her, sending fearful echoes of his blood-thirsty aggression towards separatists on Ord Mantell; only this time, he was pointing the barrel straight at her.

Her thoughts were broken as the said mercenary stumbled up beside her, muttering curses as he nearly tripped again, breathing heavily due to his armour (and the cargo of the sensor computer), the heat and the dunes they were having to scale. Zavvi didn't look at him, not wanting to worry him with the fact he'd almost killed her. He looked out over the landscape and spotted the outpost, sighing with relief.  
"Ugh, thank the stars it ain't so far off now. This thing is a real weight." He set the computer down in the sand for a brief respite. "Why does Tatooine have to have such large dunes? I know it's the Dune Sea, but can't it have just lots of little ones? You know, that you can easily get over?"  
"Because it's Tatooine, Corso. Because this planet hates everyone that lives on it and possibly itself too." Zavvi replied, trying for glibness.  
Corso saw right through this, and out of the corner of her eye, Zavvi saw his shoulders slump. He sighed.  
"I'm so sorry, Captain." He began. The Twi'lek shifted, but didn't turn to face him, hands holding her upper arms. "I...I should've fought it harder, should've let her do that to me..."  
"It's not your fault..."  
"Captain, I almost killed you! You saw how close I was! If I'd just put that bit much more pressure on Sparky's trigger..." He moved abruptly, as if someone had hit him. "How could I live with myself? Not two days ago I asked if I could court you and that's how I repay you? Shooting you in the head because I wasn't strong enough to resist some Sith?" She turned towards him, but now his back was to her.  
This is what she'd feared in letting him date her; that they'd be used against each other in such a way. But so soon? It just didn't seem fair. And yet, despite a part of Zavvi wanted to break ties with Corso in fear a similar situation would repeat itself, most of her wasn't even considering it, only trying to figure out a way to convince the young man that it wasn't his fault, that everything was alright...She didn't know why, but she couldn't bear to see the young man so upset. It seemed so wrong, somehow.  
"Corso..." She moved closer, resting a hand on his arm. "Corso, please look at me." The pained tone in her voice finally made his head turn to regard her. "Corso, it wasn't your fault. You didn't expect her to go and mess with your head. You can't blame yourself for something you had barely any control over." Her hand slid down his arm, and curled gently to hold his hand. "Besides, you managed to resist enough to let me break you free with a little punch. Surely that's something to be glad about?"  
"I guess..." He closed his eyes briefly, remembering him holding his rifle to her head, Vaverone's voice in his head telling him to finish her, and him somehow holding himself back, trying to break himself free from her suggestion. To Zavvi's credit, she'd seen his inner turmoil and helped the only way she knew how; a right hook to the jaw that had shaken him enough to break him free. Even so, he felt awful for allowing the Sith to get hold of him in such a way.

Zavvi didn't really know what she was doing until she found herself pulling Corso into an embrace, trying to do anything in her power to comfort him. She still didn't know when she'd become so concerned about how he felt, but that didn't matter right now. She considered calling her sister once more, and seeing if she could offer assistance to Corso in the form of training to help him resist influences that in the future, but Xuleena had told her she would be busy for a while and the smuggler didn't want to endanger her by asking requests when she was in a threatening situation. As much as she could trust the Jedi to keep herself out of trouble, she didn't want to tip any scales.  
The mercenary was surprised to feel her body against his own, but he wasn't going to complain about it, especially as he could sense what she was trying to achieve. He wrapped his arms around her as well, still feeling the guilt in his heart, but it was easing now. She was right; he hadn't killed her, he'd managed to stop himself from pulling the trigger and that gave him some comfort, yet it still hurt to know he could've hurt her.  
"Zavvi," she looked up in surprise, "I, I'm sorry I scared you..." He murmured softly, resting his forehead on her head. "I gotta, I gotta find a way to stop that happenin' again. I don't know how I'd live with myself if I hurt you..."  
"We'll find a way. Besides, now we know that they can do this stuff to you, we won't be caught so off guard the next time, right?" Zavvi said, unable to keep her hesitancy out of her voice.  
Corso didn't answer, just as stumped as his Captain. She drew back, looking up at him and feeling her heart twist at his demoralized expression. Smiling weakly, she lifted her hands up, hesitated, before throwing caution to the winds and using her thumbs to push the corners of Corso's lips upwards.  
"Come on, farm boy, smile. Ya can't keep sittin' in your mope bog." She giggled at his look.  
"I'm concerned about you!" He retorted with some difficulty.  
"I know. But if you've got a problem you can't solve and you haven't the time to chew it over, you might as well move on and do something else. Besides," she let go of his face, "like I said a couple of days ago; who's gonna cheer me up if you get all mopey? Risha isn't exactly a laugh a minute, I've never heard of a wookie comedian and there's no way See Two can cheer me up to save his ass."  
At that, he finally did smile.  
"I'd do almost anything to put a smile on your face, Captain." He said, brown eyes alight. "I'll make sure to stay happy for you."  
"Good!" She wandered a little way from him, and as she looked down the lip of the dune they were perched on, she suddenly had an idea. She moved to put Corso between her and the edge, avoiding the sensor computer he'd rested in the sand. "Corso, did you say you'd do 'anything' to make me happy?" She grinned.  
"Almost anything, Captain." He corrected with a similar grin. "I wouldn't wanna kiss a rancor, for starters, 'cos that's a good way to end up dead."  
"Well, then..." Zavvi turned, her grin moving from 'teasing' to 'challenging'. "Better think fast, Corso."

Before he could react, the Twi'lek sprung at him, pushing her entire weight against him. Corso fell with a yelp, toppling over the edge of the dune and hitting the sand back first. However, the smuggler had judged her jump just right, and they began to tumble down it, falling over and over each other, sand leaping like spray from the ocean.  
Though Corso had been surprised by this course of action, he quickly recovered his senses and wrapped himself around his Captain to shield her sensitive lekku from being flattened in their descent.  
Eventually they halted at the bottom of the large dune, Corso lying on his back with a smirking Twi'lek on top of him.  
"Pinned ya." She grinned, before giving a little squeal as the mercenary flipped over, clearly not as exhausted as she thought he was.  
"No, Captain." He grinned back. "I think I've pinned you." Her smirk became challenging.  
"You really think that, farm boy?" She purred, an edge to it that made him shiver.  
"Prove it." Almost as soon as he said that, the Mantellian found himself on his back once more, the smuggler triumphant.  
"Pinned ya 'gin." Corso noticed her fingers were very close to one of his armpits, and he felt his face heating up. "You know, when I flipped ya, I noticed something very interesting about you..." Her finger rose higher.  
"W-What would that be, C-Captain?" He stuttered, trying to repress the urge to squirm. That became increasingly difficult as her face lowered to him.  
"Well, you flinched when I jabbed this armpit here..." Her grin widened as she felt his body shiver and tense under her. "So I think...I think my farm boy's ticklish."  
"N-No! I'm not ticklish, Captain! H-Honest!" He chuckled nervously.  
"Let's test that, shall we?" She said, before she pounced.

Cortosis underarmour be damned; it offered scant protection to her devilish fingers and Corso was helpless to resist, bursting out laughing. He squirmed and wriggled desperately to shield his vulnerable areas, but it seemed the each time he managed to protect one, she'd find several others unprotected by durasteel. Add to that to the fact she managed to cling to him like a hungry mynock, the mercenary could barely string together a cohesive escape plan let alone a retaliation, so was left at the mercy of her tickling, doing his best not to ingest sand at the very least. Any begging for her to stop seemed to only increase the assault, and soon he was left unable to do anything but laugh.  
Eventually she relented as she felt him tiring, straddling his belly as he took the time to regain the breath she'd stolen from him. She leaned forward, smirking.  
"Admit it, farm boy, you loved that..." She purred teasingly. Corso eyed her, before he gently pushed her off him.  
"I'll get...you for that..." He panted. She giggled.  
"Not like that you won't!" She crowed, her face alight with childish glee as he pulled himself upright. His heart flipped to see her so joyful, and lit a fire within him, granting him a new lease of strength. Tatooine's Endless Sands probably wasn't the place for these sort of shenanigans to occur, but right now, Corso didn't give a damn.  
Zavvi wanted to play, and so did he.

"C'mere, you!" He cried, moving with surprising speed to push her over into the sand.  
"Hey!" He felt her muscles tense to flip him over like before, and he altered his grip so she couldn't take advantage of his weak points.  
"Oh no ya don't, Captain!" Corso laughed, managing to wriggle a gauntlet off one of his hands and beginning to search for somewhere he could exploit to tickle her to submission too. To his alarm, none seemed to exist, and Zavvi sniggered.

"That's a very unsubtle attempt to feel me up, farm boy…" She crooned, and Corso's eyes narrowed, his stubborn streak flashing its colours.

"I'm not feeling you up, Captain." He replied, managing to tug the other gauntlet free. He felt her tense and shifted his weight to keep her pinned fast. "I don't think so, Cap'n. You're staying here."

"So you can do what, exactly?" She taunted. "Pretend to be a duvet?"

"No." There was a look in his eyes that made the Twi'lek shudder with glee. "I'm going to do this."

Corso's hands snaked their way upwards, managing to find where the soft tissue of her lekku connected with her head. He experimentally drew his fingers over creases of skin there and along the underside of the headtail a little way. He grinned widely as he felt her shiver under him, a bolt of lust shooting through him.

"Oh nooo, that's not faaair!" Zavvi whined, trying to push his arms away without a single ounce of success.

"All's fair in this war, Captain." Corso grinned, continuing his 'assault' on her lekku. "Besides, I think you're enjoying it, aren't you?"

"Go away…" She moaned, pushing him slightly "Gerroff."

Corso chuckled.

"Are ya sure, Captain? Wouldn't wanna upset you if I stopped doin' something you're enjoying…" A shove. "Well, if ya really want me to stop…" He drew away, sitting beside her.

"I dislike you, farm boy." She grumbled, glaring at him, refusing to admit the feeling of his calloused hands against her sensitive lekku were right up her alley. The less he knew about that, the better, she thought.

Corso just shook his head, knowing she was just joking. Then he looked up and groaned.

"Aw, Captain, we left the sensor computer on the top of that dune!" He climbed to his feet, grimacing as he felt sand grains slip and slide into gaps between the durasteel platings and his boots, as well as some sneaking in under his cortosis underarmour. Zavvi was going to laugh until she felt similar sensations, grunting.

"Oh, damn this place to the Void, I've got sand in my-" Corso blushed. "In places you really, really don't want get sand." She complained, shaking out of her leathers as best she could, ignorant of her companion's blush.

"I'll just...I'll go get the computer, Captain." He mumbled, his mind conjuring up unwanted images of exactly what places she may have been talking about. A nice walk up the dune would do the trick, he hoped.

Zavvi grinned, watching him ascend the wall of sand, though she was focused mainly on his behind. She figured it was a little bit unfair for Corso to always be walking behind her; she'd caught him looking at her arse many a time when he thought she couldn't see him. Just this once she was able to look her fill without him turning around and catching her doing it like he did on Taris. One of her lekku twitched. Did that farm boy not know how attractive he looked? It wasn't as if Zavvi hadn't seen the odd look some women gave him, though he'd politely refuse each and every one of them, and most decided against approaching him when the few presistant ones had to be warded off by the Twi'lek herself, because for some reason they couldn't take a hint that the Mantellian was not interested.

It did make her think; of all the women out there, Corso had chosen her to court. Her! There were probably loads of farm girls better than Zavvi, more suited to Corso than Zavvi was, more like his fiancee, but yet he wasn't even considering them. Only her. But why? What did she have to offer him? Certainly not settling down on a farm; she needed her freedom to wander the stars, to explore planets and the jungles, forests, plains and mesas they contained. And there was no chance of a family if he wanted one; she knew that humans and Twi'leks couldn't reproduce, and Zavvi thought she could never be a mother. She just...didn't seem to be wired to be one. She'd probably do something stupid like dropping it.

The smuggler was snapped from her thoughts as Corso slid back down the dune, the sensor computer resting on his lap and waves of sand cascading down away from him.

"Huh, that's a good idea, farm boy." Zavvi commented. "Might get sand burns, but hey, you don't hear me complaining about it. We'll save energy by just climbing, me thinks."

"Alright, Captain. We best get moving though, before a sandstorm comes or this sand drives us crazy." The young man commented, Zavvi nodding.

"Sure. Soon as we get back to the outpost, I'll call Risha and tell her to bring the ship out to Dreviad; we can easily drop off the computer for her, and we can easily get back to the ship after a nice cool drink. I think after all the stuff that's been going on, we need it." She explained to him.

"Best idea I've heard all day, Captain!" Corso chirped. "Well, aside from the one about travelling through the morning so we could get through the Lightspring at midday. That was a really good one!"

Zavvi grinned.

"You owe that one to my father, Corso. You'll be surprised at all the things he knows that are useful. Maybe someday you'll meet him."

"I'd like to." He murmured quietly, still entertaining the thought of asking this mysterious father of hers about courting Zavvi. He figured that he must be rather formidable considering his youngster daughter was a smuggler, and his eldest was a Jedi.

Corso shook his head, pushing the thoughts aside before he jogged up to his captain to cross the rest of the Dune Sea.


End file.
